The general concept of trench drains is well known in the prior art. Trench drains are used where extensive amounts of liquid must be moved from one place to another. For example, trench drains are used for collecting rainwater from parking lots and transporting the rainwater to a drainage sewer. Typically, trench drains are U-shaped or V-shaped channels and are installed in the ground and secured in concrete. In many cases, the trench drains include a grate to prevent large debris and people from falling into them.
Some prior art trench drains include plastic channels, which can be left in place after concrete has been poured into the trench containing the drain. The plastic channels act as a form and a liner for the concrete. The manufacture and transportation costs associated with plastic channels are significantly less than prior art metal or cast concrete channels. Often, the plastic channels are supported by metal frames, which are bolted to the channels. The plastic channels include sidewalls that have gradually increasing heights along the length of the channel, which creates a gradual slope for the channel to properly drain fluid, such as rainwater. The frame is leveled in the trench and the sloping channel is bolted to the frame. Many successively taller channels are connected end-to-end to provide a long length of trench drain. For example, to create a one hundred foot length of continuous trench drain might require 10 ten-foot lengths of channel connected end-to-end wherein each successive channel is deeper than the previous channel. Thus in this example at least ten different channel pieces are required to be molded.
What is still desired is a new and improved trench drain assembly including a flow channel, a frame for supporting the channel, and a grate for covering the channel. Preferably, the new and improved trench drain assembly will allow the frame and the channel to be easily secured together without tools and without separate fasteners. In addition, the new and improved trench drain assembly will preferably require fewer different-sized channel pieces to create long spans of trench drain.